Punishing. That's the best word to describe HOT ROD Drag Week, presented this year by Gear Vendors. If you are new to the scene, here's what Drag Week is all about: five dragstrips in five days, racers must drive to each track with no support vehicle of any kind, and the car with the quickest average e.t. over five days is the overall winner.

2/60To prove that the cars drive the mandatory route, we make them hit checkpoints and photograph the car in front of them. Eric Yost was the driver of Jeff Pearley's twin-turbo Pro Street Firebird, U-Haul trailer in tow, seen here in front of the courthouse in Cadiz, Ohio. For the story on his week, turn the page.

To encourage a wide variety of entries, there are 11 classes that make up Drag Week, from Unlimited where essentially anything goes to Daily Driver, which finishes off the event with an index race to determine the class winner. Between those two are the following classes; here's a very brief description of each: Pro Street, for typical back-half (big tire) cars; Modified, for small-tire (no wider than 11.25 inches at the tread) cars with nonstock suspension; Diesel (for anything powered by a diesel engine); and Street Race for stock suspension entries on small tires. Pro Street and Modified are each split into Power-Adder and Naturally Aspirated classes, while Street Race is split into Big-Block Power-Adder, Big-Block N/A, Small-Block Power-Adder, and Small-Block N/A (430 ci is the cutoff between small- and big-block). Daily Driver is for any car slower than 10.80, and it's the biggest class of Drag Week.

Just having a fast car does not make you a winner, since you still have to make the 1,000-plus-mile drive. Attrition is a natural part of Drag Week, but it's also what makes it so interesting. Racers helping each other on the side of the road surrounded by cornfields and with Amish horse-and-buggies rolling by make this an event unlike any other. And if you finish, nobody can ever tell you again your car is not a street car. This year we started at Muncie Dragway in Muncie, Indiana, then headed north to U.S. 131 Dragway in Martin, Michigan. From there we visited Bill Bader's awesome Summit Raceway Park in Norwalk, Ohio, then went to National Trail Raceway just outside Columbus, Ohio, and back to Muncie for the finale.

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So on with the show. While Wes Allison was working his photographic magic on the track, your intrepid editor was scouring the pits talking to guys about their combinations in an effort to show readers how they go so fast and keep their junk together. Here's what we found out, as well as the whole inside story on the biggest Drag Week yet. Make plans now to attend the '10 HOT ROD Drag Week. We don't' know where or when quite yet, but trust us-it's going to be the best time you've ever had with your hot rod.

It's the little Ford that could-and does. Jon Huber's four-cylinder Mustang was racing against cars with far bigger engines but still had the field covered by nearly a second. It has run as quick as 8.90 at 156 mph, but Jon kept it in the low 9s for Drag Week, turning in a best timeslip of 9.25 and averaging 9.37 at 147 for the class win. The next closest competitor was Jeff Schmell's '08 Mustang with a 10.11 average. As you can see in one of the photos, the torque converter died just a few miles away from Muncie Dragway on the first day. A group of racers stopped and helped Jon perform a roadside fix to get him on his way.

Combo: How in the world can you make 1,000 hp and get more than 25 mpg? The Huber Performance method is a little engine, lots of boost, plenty of tuning expertise, and a little bit of light-footed driving. With the fourth-smallest engine in the entire Drag Week field (behind two Hondas and a diesel Bug), Jon's 178ci Ford four-banger made four-digit power at 8,200 rpm by using really good bottom end parts, a custom Jon-ported head, a big turbo, and a MegaSquirt EFI system. The EFI is the key: Jon had the 1,000hp tune on the track, then leaned it out for the drives. He claims the car still gets about 19 mpg with the big tuneup in it. The trans is a C4, the rear is an 8.8-inch, and the car carries its front tires to about the 330 mark on nearly every pass-very fun to watch.

Unlimited had a total of five cars entered, and all of them looked to have a shot at the overall win. But by the first day, Dave Ahokas' Willys, Shawn Ellington's Nova, and Doug Cline's Camaro had bitten the dust. The fight came down to Larry Larson's Chevy II and this bad boy, Jeff Lutz's '57. Rumors had this car already running 6s a week or so before Drag Week, so all eyes were on it. Jeff posted a 7.63 at Muncie and a 7.64 at Martin, but when he got to Norwalk, the car was hurt with broken lifters. He fixed it, did a burnout and backed up, and the starter shut them off to clean a spot on the track. Then the car wouldn't fire. In fact, he couldn't even get it to turn over with a breaker bar. Jeff figured the cam bearings were toast and were seizing the cam. His week, and the prospect of Larry having someone to duke it out with, was over. A nice thing to note is the legs poking out from under the front bumper (in the photo at the right) are Larry's, who was helping him diagnose it.

Combo: The '57 is a full-tube-chassis, no-compromises car built by Tom Napierkowski in a mere three months using a body from Fort Pitt Racing. The engine is a twin-turbo, 640ci Rat that uses a Callies/Oliver/Diamond short-block, big Brodix heads, and a 0.850-lift Bullet cam with a big 118-degree lobe separation. A BigStuff3 computer controls the EFI, and racer Mark Micke gave them the Powerglide.

Eric Yost made his second appearance at Drag Week in Jeff Pearley's Firebird. Jeff is the former crew chief on Greg Anderson's dominant NHRA Pro Stock team. The Pontiac was a solid 7-second player, but it was a long week for the him, especially when he grenaded the transmission at National Trail. Fellow racer Rick Prospero had a spare TH400 and offered it to him, but it had the wrong case, so he gutted the good one in the pits and put the parts in the Firebird trans. With the help of a big group of fellow racers and presenting sponsor Rick Johnson of Gear Vendors, he got it together and made the drive to Muncie on time-and only needed a 14-something pass to win the class. But Eric went for broke . . . and broke, coasting to a 15.38 and handing the win to Mike Roy's Monte Carlo. That's gotta sting.

Combo: With a 4.125-inch bore and a 3.75 stroke, the ex-Lingenfelter engine uses what Eric called "old" cylinder heads force-fed tons of air from a pair of 76mm turbos controlled by a BigStuff3 system. The trans is a TH400 backed by a Gear Vendors overdrive, and the former Steve Grebeck chassis uses ladder bars and big Mickey Thompson rubber. Check out the cardboard airscoop they made to prevent overheating on the road.

Randy's Buick has run in the Factory Appearing Stock Tire (F.A.S.T.) series, so it's pretty much stock. Yeah, right. This was a fun car to watch, since on the launch it hit the tires so hard it made us take notice. But the '80s-style teal paint (done by "some mullet guy, I'm sure," according to Randy) and stock interior redone with a kit from Legendary, makes it look like your grandfather's Buick. It ran in Daily Driver with a 12.38 dial-in and lost on a breakout in the third round.

Combo: Like an NHRA Stock racer, Randy won't tell what he's done to the 455 under the hood. He claims the long-block is stock, but when we asked about the cam, he simply put down a question mark. Damn racers. A TH350 and 3.73-geared 12-bolt send power to 275/60R15 Hoosier drag radials, and the suspension consists of adjustable upper control arms, no-hop bars, QA1 shocks with QA1 coilovers, Global West upper control arms, and F-body spindles up front. Randy also won a Gear Vendors overdrive in the awards ceremony raffle.

Frequent HOT ROD readers will recognize the name Mike Copeland. He works for GM Performance Division and was the man behind the amazing HOT ROD Solstice in 2006, the Reggie Jackson Camaro (2007), and the modernization of Popular Hot Rodding's Project X '57 Chevy. Mike's a true hard-core hot rodder and stepped out of the office to build his own Canyon truck with modern power. While it came in last place in Modified N/A, the thing was bracket-racer consistent with slips of 10.69, 10.73, 10.61, 10.63, and 10.50. It's a driver, and the paint is blinding.

Combo: Mike fortified a 427ci LS7 engine with a Moldex crank, BRC rods, and Diamond pistons to handle whatever he'll eventually throw at it. The heads are stock LS7s breathing through a GMPP intake and a 950 HP Holley carb. The Comp hydraulic roller cam has 0.620 lift and 270 duration with 114 degrees of lobe separation, while an MSD box sparks it and Mike's own headers and DynoMax mufflers exhaust it. It makes 703 hp and 638 lb-ft at the crank. A TH400 with a Hipster 'brake and a 4.20-geared 9-inch (with a Detroit Locker and Strange axles) complete the drivetrain. The wheels are from Billet Specialties, and the rears mount 28x11-15 Mickey Thompson slicks (carried in the bed on the street driving portion of the event). Alston ladder bars in back put it into the Modified class.

The Ford guys will hate this, but Steve (driver) and Gary (dad) Satterlee's Fox body has a 632ci Chevy in it. Brand loyalty be damned, it was fast enough to win the Big-Block N/A class. This was the third Drag Week for the Satterlees but "the first time in a fast car," according to Gary. They built the car in only 90 days, starting on it after they got the motor.

Combo: The 632 was built by Nye's Automotive and Racing Engines in Muncie, Indiana, with an Eagle/JE bottom end, BMF 385 cylinder heads, a 0.715-lift Erson solid roller cam (272/282 duration at 0.050), Dynatech headers, and an MSD 6AL ignition. It makes 834 hp at 6,000 rpm and 758 lb-ft at 5,600. With a Coan TH400, 3.50 gears in the 9-inch, and ET Street 28x11.50 rubber hooked up by UPR and AJE stock suspension bits, it ran as quick as 10.04 and averaged 10.15.

Earl's Radar Blue truck was a big, back-halved baddie packing a turbocharged big-block and running in Pro Street Power-Adder, theoretically the second quickest class of Drag Week. We saw Earl and his buddy working on the truck at a few tracks, so they had a long week. They suffered from a broken rocker stud boss, fuel pump issues, electric fan issues, and a few other small problems, but they made it. Earl also built and tuned on the engine in Chad Noel's Mustang, which also finished.

Combo: Earl's engine displaces 550 ci and makes a big 1,200 hp (at 6,800 rpm) and 1,400 lb-ft (at 5,000) thanks to a pair of Precision 88mm turbos mounted under the bed. Ford Motorsport Cobra Jet heads and a pair of carburetors take in the air, and a Bullet 0.600-lift cam (with 250 degrees of duration at 0.050 and a 116-degree lobe separation) open the valves. The trans is a C6, and a 9-inch with 3.60:1 gears puts the power to big Hoosier slicks. The truck has run as quick as 8.90 but was in the mid-9s on Drag Week.

Nicknamed the Murder Nova online and at the event for its sinister flat-black paint and all-black engine, this one had everyone's eyes open to see what it would do. The Unlimited car was a proven mid-7-second ride, which meant it could be in the hunt for an overall win. And it just looked . . . mean. But on an 8.20 pass the first day at Muncie, one of the pistons decided it was time to give up, and the Nova packed it up for the week. Will it come back next year? We hope so.

Combo: The engine is a 598ci big-block Chevy with an Ohio Crankshafts crank, Oliver rods, and Diamond pistons. Dart 380cc Pro II heads and a carburetor handle the ridiculous airflow from a ProCharger F-3 blower, and a Comp cam described as having "big" lift and "a lot" of duration (though they did admit to 115 degrees of lobe separation) actuates Jesel rockers. When asked about power, Shawn was equally secretive, saying simply "a lot." A Powerglide trans and Mark Williams 9-inch hammer the big Hoosier slicks. Suspension is a ladder bar setup.

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Dennis Ayers
Marion, IN
'96 Pontiac Firebird
Class: Daily Driver

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By far the biggest bummer of Drag Week was when Dennis Ayers' Firebird caught fire in the staging lanes on the first day. The LT-1 car had a dry nitrous system and the fuel line popped off, spraying gas on the headers. You can guess what happened next. The fire crew was on the scene right away, but it still took about 30 seconds to completely extinguish the flames, by which time the car was obviously done for the week. It's repairable, and Dennis was in a surprisingly good mood, but the high-10-second car looked awful.

Along with Norm Tanahill, Vince Rasch, Jay Brown, and Tom Hogshead, Danny Morrison has been to all five Drag Week events, the last two in this really cool Fairlane. He has a blast running the restomod machine in Daily Driver, and though his 12.23-second average didn't get him into the index race on the last day, Danny stuck around till the bitter end, encouraging his fellow Drag Week competitors. This guy, Pops Morrison, and their buddies are what Drag Week is all about.

Combo: The 'Lane runs a 351W with a stock short-block, World Products heads, a mild Comp cam, and a Proform Edelbrock RPM-style intake with a ZEX nitrous system. The car is a driver, so Danny doesn't have any power numbers. The trans is an AOD (overdrive, just for Drag Week), and the suspension uses Total Control parts up front and CalTracs bars in back.

A former Spirit of Drag Week winner, John Hughes won that honor by constantly breaking his car but persevering to fix it and continue regardless, all with a good attitude. This year, he and twin brother James (we started calling either one Jimmyjohn since we can't tell them apart) made sure the car was bulletproof and would finish, and it did, even during slow-speed running trying to pass the Amish buggies of Ohio and Indiana. Running in Big-Block N/A, John finished Third behind Brent Bowman's '69 Camaro with an average of 10.27 at 130 mph.

Combo: A 548ci big-block with an Eagle crank and rods and JE slugs uses Edelbrock Victor 24-degree, Pat Musi CNC-ported heads and a Victor Jr. intake, a Cam Motion cam (0.730 lift and 273 duration), an MSD 6AL ignition, and Hedman 2 1/4-inch headers to make 773 hp and 658 lb-ft. A TH400 with a Gear Vendors overdrive and an Ultimate Converter 4,800-stall converter works with a 3.73-geared Moser 12-bolt and 28x12.50-15 M/T ET Streets. The suspension uses South Side bars and a Wolfe Racecraft antiroll bar in back.

When you're paying attention to fuel mileage, it's almost cheating to stick a big Duramax diesel into a lightweight Mustang, but the end results speak for themselves. Mike Wood, the owner of Nitrous Express, debuted this car at the '08 HOT ROD Drag Week and came back this year running quicker. He was racing in the Diesel class against some big, heavy trucks (and one VW Bug), so the Mustang had a fairly easy time winning. It's also reliable, as Mike drives this thing everywhere, including on long-distance sales calls. The car used 81.22 gallons of fuel over 3,128 miles (from home to Drag Week, during the event, and then back home), which averaged to 38.51 mpg. As Mike says, "Not bad mileage for a true street-driven car that ran a 9.71 at 147.88 mph."

Combo: The Duramax short-block uses a stock crankshaft, Crower rods, and Mahle pistons topped by ZZ Custom Fabrication/Auto Shop Machine Service heads. The cam is a secret grind by Bullet. An Industrial Induction 71mm turbo crams a ton of boost into the motor, while a Nitrous Express direct-port system adds more to the fire. On a Dynojet chassis dyno, it showed 810 hp at the wheels, and that's through a Chevy 4L80E automatic trans with a Gear Vendors overdrive and a 9-inch with 3.25:1 gears. It hooks via Mickey Thompson Drag Radials (325/60R15) and a David Wolfe stock-type rear suspension with Anthony Jones Engineering coilovers and K-member in front.

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Mike told us, "Thursday evening we discovered why the car was not responding to our tuning changes. We are using a new, very smart ECM, and it was restricting fuel supply by limiting the fuel pressure to 21,000 psi. When we modified the fuel restriction table, we were able to achieve 26,000 psi, which allowed us to run the 9.71. That pass only had a 1.65 60-foot compared with our best of 1.35, so we left a lot on the table on that run. I did not make another pass because I still had 1,000 miles to drive to get home. The pump will make more than 32,000 psi, so we have a lot of room left for improvement."

Clark is a multitime Drag Week participant, and last year his car suffered a broken axle. This year, he blew up the transmission, but thankfully, it happened on the final night at Muncie. The better news is that it was his best pass ever, a 10.38 at 133 mph, putting him Third in his class with a 10.45 average.

Randy and his friend Dave Henrikson made their first Drag Week this year and had a great time but also encountered some problems. On the first day they lost Second gear in the TH400 on the drive to Michigan. At U.S. 131 Randy made "a crappy pass" with no Second gear, and local Bob Smith got him in touch with Cottman Transmission in Grand Rapids, which loaned him the use of its hoist and transmission jack to pull the trans. The company replaced the pump, a broken snap ring, and a clutch pack to get the car on the road, but then two coils burned up and one of the adjustable upper control arms had pulled its threads out. Both were fixed by local shops, and Randy ran his first 9-second pass, a 9.95 at 132 at Muncie to finish Third in Big-Block Power-Adder.

Combo: Pontiac fans will be pleased to know Randy didn't stuff a big Chevy in his Grand Prix. This one's a 467ci Pontiac with a good bottom end and Kaufmann D-port heads that have been CNC-ported to flow 325 cfm with 85cc chambers. A Proform 850 carb on an Edelbrock Victor intake, a demonic 0.666-lift Comp roller cam, an MSD Digital 6 box, and Hooker 1 3/4-inch headers and 3-inch MagnaFlow mufflers make room for a two-stage NOS Big Shot plate nitrous system. It makes 476 hp and 582 lb-ft at the rear tires on the motor. On a 150-shot of spray, it cranks out 590 and 724. A Jess Nelson-built TH400 with a Continental converter and 3.73 gears in the 12-bolt finish out the drivetrain, and the tires are Mickey Thompson 315/60R15 drag radials.

Mike Crow was last year's Spirit of Drag Week winner, and he showed just as much sportsmanship this year, helping out anyone who needed it. His 'Cuda is also one of our favorite cars of Drag Week, since it looks pretty stock but sounds like pure evil when it makes a pass.

Combo: The engine is a 420ci small-block Mopar (4.155x3.875) with a BRC crank, Oliver rods, and JE slugs, topped by Mopar W-9 heads and a FAST fuel-injection system. A 0.670-lift, 288-duration (at 0.050) Elgin cam works T&D 1.5:1 rockers, and an MSD box sparks it. It makes 650 hp at 7,000 rpm, and when Mike shifts the G-Force G5R five-speed, it sends chills up your back. We also dig the fact that he mounted the 28x11.50 ET Streets to a set of Magnum 500 wheels. CalTracs bars make it hook to a best of 10.38 at 131 mph.

Here's a car we all wanted to take home with us. Driven by Jim Bailey but owned by Mike Thompson (who won Pro Street last year with his yellow S10 that broke this time), this heavy Chevy yanked the wheels and ran mid-9s all week, averaging 9.604 at 141 mph. The green Caprice is superclean, and the stock interior is tasty.

Combo: It's a fairly simple 509ci Rat motor with Brodix heads, an Edelbrock Victor intake, an MSD ignition, Lemons headers, and a shot of nitrous. A Gear Vendors overdrive was bolted to the back of a TH400 to improve the highway manners. The car had supposedly never made a pass before Drag Week, but this thing just screams street racer.

We love this wagon. One of the top five cars we wanted to take home with us was Greg's '70 Chevy, a stock-looking but very quick gold medal. Running in daily driver, it's a low-11-second ride and is grandpa-fresh inside and out. Greg ran an 11.48 on an 11.52 dial to break out in the first round, but we don't care. Cool car.

Combo: Talk about a straightforward ride, this wagon runs a 540 big-block with Brodix oval-port heads, an MSD, and pretty much nothing else. The techsheet shows a TH400 and a 12-bolt with unspecified gears, which leads us to believe that this, oh I dunno, might be a bit of a street racer. Greg wouldn't tell us anything about it other than that, so make your best guess. He did say it's run as quick as 11.16, a full half-second quicker than its dial-in in Daily Driver. Damn racers anyway.

If this car looks familiar to you, that's because it also competed in the '08 Drag Week. If the 585ci Cammer under the hood looks familiar, it's because it is similar to the one featured in the story "Return of the SOHC" in the Aug. '09 issue. The author of that story is the same guy who built and races this car, Jay Brown. The engine in the Galaxie is a bigger and more powerful one than in the story, and it allowed the car to run 9.50s every day . . . except the last one, when Jay turned in a 9.49 e.t. He was in a heck of a battle all week with the '88 Mustang of Red Johnson, who finished a close Second with an average of 9.58 compared with Jay's 9.52.

Combo: The Cammer uses 4.500-bore CP pistons and a 4.600-stroke Crower billet crank and rods to make 585 inches, and the high-port heads are from Bill Coon. The cam is from Comp and features 0.725-inch lift, 272 degrees of duration, and 114 degrees of lobe separation-and it opens the valves with T&D rockers. Adding to the visual orgy is a Hilborn stack fuel-injection system converted to electronic. It makes 932 hp at 6,700 rpm and 820 lb-ft at 5,600 and sounds fantastic doing it. A C4 transmission with a Gear Vendors unit and 4.56:1 gears in a 9-inch get the big Ford moving on its 29.5x10.5 Hoosier slicks, and Jay sits comfortably in the brothel-like red interior.

As his nickname implies, Rick Fox is a doctor, and this 8-second convertible Corvette is what he uses to commute to the office nearly every day. How cool is that? Doc has competed in several Drag Weeks, but 2009 saw his first class win. Built and tuned by longtime racer Ross Stomp, the Vette has run as quick as 8.82 at 154 mph but averaged 9.02 at 149 over the five days of the '09 Drag Week.

Combo: Stomp built the 588ci Rat motor with Dart 360 heads and a Pro Systems 1,150 carburetor, then hosed it down with NOS nitrous. The car is more street driver than race car, so the engine hasn't been on a dyno-but it's obviously healthy. A TH400 sits behind it, and a four-link hooks the Mickey Thompson slicks, pulled from Doc's small tag-along trailer at each stop.

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Robert Perrine
Tully, NY
'56 Chevy
Class: Daily Driver

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We think it was somewhere outside Cadiz, Ohio, where Robert's '56 quit running. We ran across it on the side of the road, with other Drag Weekers stopping to help. A broken valvespring was bad in the countryside, but they thought they could get it fixed. They couldn't, but Robert hung around the rest of the week anyway-on a trailer.

Here's the very first Chevette to compete in Drag Week, and it's from Canada. Greg's econobox was actually really cool-ya know, for a Chevette-and definitely stood out from the crowd. He got past the first round in Friday's Daily Driver index race but then slowed way down and lost in the next go 'round.

Combo: A 383ci small-block with a Scat rotating assembly and World Products Sportsman II heads use a Crower 0.585/0.598-lift cam to propel the little Chev to high 10s (10.98 average) on probably the shortest wheelbase of Drag Week, trailing only the little Honda Civic. A TCI 700R4 trans with a Coan 4,000-stall converter and a 9-inch with 4.33s on a spool spin M/T Sportsman Pro 29x15.5-15 street tires.

Curt battled James "Whichdoctor" McEntire's Camaro all week, with both cars running within a tenth of each other, running 9.0s to 9.2s. Curt took the class win, though, with a 9.13 average to McEntire's 9.27.

Combo: The little black, back-halved Chevy runs a big 540 with a Callies/Oliver/Diamond rotating system and heads from Race Flow Development (RFD) topped with an Edelbrock Super Victor intake (ported by RFD). A custom-ground (they wouldn't divulge the specs) Comp roller determines the powerband (which Curt also wouldn't tell us). The trans is a TH400 with a Gear Vendors overdrive built by Mike Thompson, and the suspension is a ladder bar setup with Mickey Thompson tires.

Rick's sedate-looking little wagon packed a big punch in the way of a twin-turbo big-block and low-9-second performance. Talk about a sleeper. With his buddy Scott Murray and his lovely wife riding shotgun, Rick and his wagon not only made the drive and ran fast enough (10.00 at 136) to runner-up in the Big Block Power-Adder class, but they also were always there to lend help, including when eventual winner Larry Larson broke down in the cornfield.

Combo: This one ain't screwing around, with a 4.29x4.00 short-block (that's 463 cubes), AFR CNC'd 357 heads, a 0.650-lift Cam Motion bumpstick, and a pair of 75mm turbos with SFI Injection from an ACCEL system. It makes 750 hp at 5,300 rpm and 745 lb-ft at 5,500. The trans is a TH400 and the rear is a 9-inch with 3.50 gears, while the suspension is stock-type with relocated leaf springs and CalTracs bars. The car runs on Mickey Thompson 275/60R15 drag radials and has run as quick as 9.15 at 153 mph.

Doc McEntire has run Drag Week for the last three years with this Camaro and finished Second out of five cars in his class to Curt Johnson's S-10.

Combo: An Edelbrock Protuner EFI system and MSD Digital 7 ignition control the Brodix-headed 555 big-block. It has a custom Goodwin cam, T&D rockers, and Lemons headers with Borla mufflers. Doc says the power is "just south of four digits," which seems right with low 9 e.t.'s. A Coan TH400 and 9-inch round out the drivetrain, and the chassis uses a four-link and Koni coilovers in back and a stock front clip with Global West control arms and QA1 coilovers in front. The Honda Red paint was sprayed by Grain Valley Auto Body.

Michael Roy is another frequent Drag Week competitor and has had such a good time over the years that he convinced a slew of buddies and their cars to join the fun. This year was also the first time Mike won his class, doing so in convincing fashion (8.65 average) after Eric Yost's Firebird ate its transmission and limped to a 15-second pass on the last day.

Combo: Mike had Larson Race Cars back-half the car a few years ago in preparation for Drag Week, using a Pro Mod-style four-link and a Mark Williams Dana 60 with 40-spline axles. The engine combination is a 540 with Dart 325 heads and a ProCharger F3R supercharger blowing into a PTE intercooler, a Cuttler intake, and a Wilson throttle body. A Crane 0.650-lift cam, Lemons 2 3/8-inch headers (with 4-inch exhaust), and LS1 coil-on-plug coils help it make a big 1,500 hp and 1,220 lb-ft. A Coan TH400 with a Gear Vendors OD make it highway capable.

Nino finished Second in the Modified Power-Adder class and got the unofficial happy-guy award of Drag Week. His pal Michael Roy, the winner of Pro Street Power-Adder, persuaded him to come do Drag Week and even helped build his car in the late hours to make it happen. Doc Fox had Nino covered by a full second, but it really didn't matter, since Nino was only there for the fun. He's a great guy, and we hope he comes back next year.

Combo: A Chevy 383 with Air Flow Research 190 heads and an 850 Holley on an Edelbrock Performer RPM intake take the Big Shot nitrous hit, and it makes 509 hp on the motor and 730 on spray. The trans is a TH350, and 3.70 gears are in the 9-inch out back. It's been as fast as a 9.95 at 134 but ran a quickest of 10.08 on Drag Week.

Geoff not only won the Daily Driver bracket race, but he also scored the coveted Spirit of Drag Week award, given to the person who best exemplifies all the positive aspects of competing in the event. He brought along his two boys, and they slept in a tent at every venue. Geoff went above and beyond the call in helping out more than a few racers, including offering his spare transmission to Keith Harrison when the latter racer blew his up at National Trail.

Combo: The 'Bu runs a small-block 406 with, as Geoff says, "an old GM cast crank, used eBay rods, swap meet TRW pistons, and a used set of 906 Vortec heads." The cam is a Comp Magnum 280 and the intake is an Edelbrock RPM Air-Gap. Geoff built it himself and doesn't know how much power it makes, but with a homebuilt TH350, a 3.08-geared Buick Grand National rearend, and 255/60R15 Mickey Thompson Drag Radials, it has run as quick as 11.82. It was a consistent 12.20 car on Drag Week. He beat Bruce Cooke in the final round of the index race by a mere 0.019 seconds. Geoff also won a Gear Vendors unit in a drawing after the awards ceremony.

What the...? A Chevy pickup as Quickest Olds. That's because the motor in Sondra's truck is a 455 Olds (check out the grille emblem). She was running in Big-Block N/A and was a good 2 seconds off the class's top pace with an average of 12.32 at 107, but it was good enough for Sixth Place out of eight.

Combo: The Olds engine is brutally stock with a factory bottom end, ported stock iron heads, and a Quadrajet carb on an Edelbrock Torker intake. An Engle 238/248, 0.540-lift cam, Hedman 1/34-inch headers, and a recurved HEI make up the rest of the engine combination, while the trans is a 4L60E, the rear is a 9-inch, and the tires are 325/50R15 Mickey Drag Radials.

Jim Neuenfeldt lit up the first Drag Week with his stock-looking Chevy 4x4 pickup that ran 10 flat. On stock tires. He did it with a homemade turbo setup and prodigious tuning with a MegaSquirt system, a setup similar to what he brought out last year in the turbo LS1-powered Fairmont that we featured in the Apr. '08 issue. This time Jim went for comfort in the way of a new Pontiac G8 but added more power with a pair of turbos. Prior to Drag Week, he had only run the car in the eighth-mile, where it posted a 7.78 at 95. During Drag Week, the car ran an 11.65 and averaged 12.07, which put it on the ladder for the index race Friday night. A first-round red light ended his Drag Week. The car should go quicker, but Jim was holding it back since it didn't have a rollbar and was therefore restricted to an 11.50.

Combo: When we say it's stock, it's stock, man. The 6.0L LS motor has all stock parts, including the cam, but Jim replaced two of the cats with a pair of 60mm Precision turbos. Through the stock 6L60E is automatic, it sends 475 hp and 502 lb-ft to the rear tires. The engine control computer is also stock, but Jim tunes it with HP Tuners software using the dyno at C&S Dynoshop in Omaha.

With a five-day average of 10.96, David Paschall's Buick was the quickest car in the Daily Driver class, and he made the most of it, going three rounds in eliminations. His worst reaction time was an 0.091, and his wins came over Robert Perrine's '56 Chevy and Greg Miller's Chevette before losing to Bruce Cooke in the quarterfinals. David and Shaun Brackett tied for the Mickey Thompson Quickest Reaction Time on the first day of competition. David turned his timeslip in first, but Shaun got the perfect light first, so Mickey Thompson decided to award them both with winners' jackets.

Combo: Thankfully, David's Buick runs a Buick, a 455 with JE pistons, TA Performance heads, a Comp 0.608-lift cam, and a Pro Systems carb. A TH350 and a 12-bolt round out the drivetrain, and the car has run as quick as 10.81 at 123.

Bruce Merrill's Camaro may have been outpowered in the Small-Block Power-Adder class, but he made up for it with style and simplicity. This fourth-gen has a bone-stock LS1 long-block with a rear-mount STS turbo system making the power. He runs 93-octane pump gas and averaged 19.2 mpg from start to finish on Drag Week (not counting the dragstrip passes), towing a 1,000-pound Jason Industries trailer loaded with tools, tires, and spare parts, and as Bruce says, "all while hauling ass at speeds up to 100 mph on the highway. Without the trailer, we get 18 mpg in town and 27 mpg on the highway."

Combo: The car was built and tuned at Bruce's shop, Merrill Automotive & Tire in Elkhart, Indiana. QTP long-tube headers and a mandrel-bent 3-inch pipe feed the rear-mount STS turbo, which blows into an intercooler up front. Methanol injection helps make safe power on pump gas to the tune of 560 hp and 580 lb-ft at the ET Street tires. A G-force-built T56 six-speed with a Spec clutch sends it to a Strange Dana 60 rear with 3.73s on a Detroit Locker.

Scott's Camaro looked like any other third-gen at first, then he popped the hood to reveal the Buick Grand National turbocharged V-6. What's cooler is that this car was built almost entirely with used parts sourced from the Internet. Scott says, "About 75 percent of the parts on this car are recycled parts I bought from www.turbobuick.com. They sold me the transmission and converter, which came from Florida, for $1,000, the turbo is from a guy who was on Pinks. That came from Texas. The injectors are from Illinois. I probably have $15,000 to $20,000 in the car, including the $5,000 initial cost of the car." As for that mileage figure? Scott says, "The worst [mileage] I got on our trip was 18 mpg, and that included some track times and the trip. My air/fuel ratios were 14.3s, which are not ideal for fuel mileage, but afterward I switched my tune for low 15s, where they should be and got 20 mpg." Pretty stout for a low-10-second car.

Combo: The V-6 displaces 260 ci and uses Webber Racing and K-1 internals, a Comp cam, a 76mm turbo, a 4-inch inlet, a 5-inch downtube, and an air-to-air intercooler mounted in front of the radiator. Scott modified the headers slightly to move the turbo off to the passenger side a little bit so the downpipe would clear the strut tower. He's never dyno-tested it, so the power is anyone's guess. It has run as quick as 10.32 at 133 mph on 93-octane gas and without any kind of water or methanol injection. The trans is a TH400, and there are 3.25 gears in a 9-inch rear. His suspension put the car in Modified since it uses old-school Southside Machine lift bars out back to plant 325/50R15 Mickey Thompson Drag Radials. Other than a bad day at Norwalk, the car was a 10.50 and 10.60 car all week, and Scott finished Third in Modified Power-Adder.

Engine builder Mike Moran told him to change the lifters, but Larry thought they would be OK. After all, they'd only been in this twin-turbocharged 555ci Rat motor for three years. And it had only had to deal with thousands of miles of street driving on Drag Week for three years, multiple 7-second passes, and some occasional street driving. What could possibly go wrong?

Larry would be plagued by those old, tired lifters on Drag Week when he ate one at the second stop in Michigan. He fixed it, then had another failure in the middle of nowhere Michigan or Ohio, literally in the middle of a cornfield. Two lifters were toast, so he wired them up out of the way and drove to the next checkpoint on seven cylinders, cell phone rumbling to get new parts to the next destination. They got there, he swapped them, and his Drag Week legend continued undisputed.

All we can say is 7.25 and 204 mph. Granted, they didn't occur on the same pass, but the fact that either of those numbers came out of a car that traveled 1,000-plus miles, while we watched, over country roads and interstates that many 12-second muscle cars would have a tough time traversing . . . what more can we say?

57/60Winners Doc Fox, Michael Roy, and Larry Larson.

For the second year, Larry Larson's Chevy II is the baddest-assest, most awesome, no-doubt, no-holds-barred Fastest Street Car in America.

Combo: Larry's bullet displaces 555 ci and uses a Lunati/Oliver/JE bottom end and Dart 360 heads. Mike Moran built it and used a pair of 88mm Precision Turbos mounted to Larry's own headers to make all that power. A five-speed Lenco CS2 transmission is just drop-dead cool in a street car, and Larry built his own 9-inch rearend housing-and in fact, the entire car-at his Larson Race Cars shop in Oak Grove, Missouri. The tires are 33x18.50 Mickey Thompson ET Streets, and Larry doesn't change them when he gets to the track. The same tires used on the road are also used to run 7s.